A Lonely Beach
by Kitty1116
Summary: Gray is excited to spend some time with a friend but winds up at the beach alone, or so he thought. Claire x Gray one shot.


**A/N: This is the first thing I've posted here, but I plan on posting more often this supper, hopefully. This was a bit rushed and didn't turn out that well at all but it's still practice right~ Read, review, help me improve :3 Rated T for suggestive themes (though nothing to intense) and some cursing.**

It was one of those famous Mineral Town nights. The sun wasn't long setting and the air was still lingering with it's warmth. Anywhere you wanted to go was beautiful and perfect in this weather. In addition to the perfect weather the night sky was at it's best too. The slivery full moon was outlined with a fine, opaque shine which illuminated everything almost as well as it's counterpart, the sun, could. The moon's friends, the stars, stood out brilliantly against the black velvet sky and the way that they played and sparkled where they were hung added to the elegance of the night.

These were the night's that Gray didn't miss the city. You could never find a night as pleasant as this there. Most night's you were lucky if you could find the moon over the hustle and bustle and high buildings in the city, but this was quite obviously not the case for Mineral Town.

Tonight was going to be a nice a night as it looked to be. Gray and Kai had both finally made some time in their hectic schedules to sit down and catch up on all the things that had happened in each other's lives over the past year. Kai was Gray's good buddy even though they seemed like an unlikely pair and his arrival made summer that much sweeter.

Kai would be "working late" tonight, repairing a hole in the roof of his restaurant and Gray had offered to help. This was really just code to save Gray a lecture about goofing off from his grandfather. Sure, there was a small hole in Kai's roof but it would only take the briefest of moments to repair so the rest of their time could be spent over a cold beer or two…or five. Gray didn't drink too much so between Kai and the case of beer in his hand he was overjoyed, beginning a slight jog to the beach.

Once he reached the beach he looked around. The ocean was calm tonight, it's call was steady and soothing to his overworked ears. He walked down onto the beach taking in the full view of the moon reflected in the ocean's beauty. Gray ignored the sand that was falling into his sneakers as he walked closer to the ocean, looking out mesmerized by the night they had been given.

"Hey Gray." Said a soft voice from the darkness.

Gray quickly looked around, a bit startled by the sudden voice. His eyes finally settled and adjusted to the far side of the beach were a young woman was curled up on a yellow blanket. The blanket matched the girl's hair, both now standing out nicely in the moon light. Gray was unsure how he had missed her at first glance.

"Oh, hey Claire." He said once his heart beat returned to normal, his expression becoming stiff. He didn't know Claire the best but he knew the young farmer well enough to call her a friend. He walked over to her and eyed her carefully.

Claire was wearing a light peach coloured sun dress that ended at her knees in a ruffle. Some light brown eye-shadow covered her eyes and there was some blush brushed onto her sun drenched cheeks, concealing some of her freckles. Under normal circumstances Claire would be in her jean overalls and Gray had never seen her wear makeup before so this stuck him as odd.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "What are you doing her Claire?" He asked looking around her, where a bottle of wine was half hidden under her blanket. "It's awfully late."

Claire let a small laugh fill the air between them. "It's kind of pathetic really…" She said, stretching her legs and burying her feet in the sand. Gray placed his case of beer down and sat on it. With the way she looked and what she had with her he was curious.

"You have to be doing something," Gray spoke as he removing his shoe's, joining her in enjoying the sand between his toes. "_No one _gets dressed up to come sit on the beach and drink alone." He said rather bluntly as he took off his coat as well, letting the night air wash over him like a wave.

Claire furrowed her brow, ready to defend herself. "I'm not dressed up." She stated with a pout. She looked at the beer case the blacksmith apprentice was sitting on and retorted. "And you're here drinking alone, so…you just contradicted yourself!"

Gray wasn't about to let this farmer wannabe speak to him like that! "I'm not drinking alone." He said firmly, a scowl now on his lips and a bitter look in his eyes. "I'm drinking with Kai tonight." How did this turn into a yelling match?

Now Claire scoffed. "Good luck with that!" She said, glaring at Gray with the amount same amounted of bitterness he was giving her. "He left about an hour ago with Popuri and hasn't been back."

He shot up from his case-seat and turned to face Kai's restaurant. All the lights were off and the building was surrounded in darkness. He could also see the big metal lock secured in place. "Well damn it all to hell!" Gray growled. Tonight was suppose to be perfect! Everything was set up and going well, why did Kai have to be a dick tonight of all nights?

Claire smiled weakly at Gray and his obvious frustration, feeling bad for yelling at him. "Sorry for being the one to burst your bubble…" she said patting the place beside her on her yellow blanket, motioning for Gray to sit down. Defeated, Gray accepted the place next to the blonde. He sulked for a few minutes before Claire opened her wine bottle and broke the silence.

"Rick stood me up." She said quite simply as she poured some of the red wine into one of two glasses she had placed near the bottle. Gray looked over at her and even though her features didn't show any signs of disappointment her eyes were betraying her. The deep blue eyes were clearly sad about being alone on the beach.

As she took a mouth full of wine Gray reached over, grabbed a beer and popped it open. He took a long swing before speaking again. "So…Do you like Rick?" Gray asked, trying to start at least some form of conversation (that didn't lead to more yelling) between the two.

Again Claire laughed half-heatedly. "Not very much right now." She admitted honestly. "He probably went off to yell at Kai for being with his sister. That overprotective freak…"

Now it was Gray's turn to laugh. He couldn't see why anyone could like Rick, frankly. He was too overprotective, too loud, made weird faces all the time, and was obsessed with Kai, chickens, eggs, and his sister, Popuri. "It's probably for the best Claire," Gray said before taking another drink. "Rick's not Mineral Town's most attractive bachelor, that's fore sure."

"Him and that stupid white head band of his…" Claire mumbled before finishing her wine and pouring more wine and drinking half of that too.

Gray fiddled with the brim of his hat a bit nervously. Was it healthy for someone to drink the way Claire was? "If you keep drinking at this rate you'll be visiting the hospital you know…" he said watching her, maybe a little concerned. "Rick's a douche bag, no need to drink yourself to death over it." He spoke casually as he drank more of his beer.

Claire smirked slightly. "Gray, is that your way of saying you care?" She asked with a teasing tone in her voice. Gray frowned and shook his head quickly and her remark.

"No, I just don't want to carry you to the hospital…" Gray said quickly, even though he would care if Claire hurt herself in some way. Especially if the stupid way was drinking over Rick…

Claire laid back on the blanket, stretching out and placing down her now empty glass. "Are you upset that Kai left you alone?" Claire asked, looking up at the sky. Grey looked down at Claire studying the farmer for a brief moment before responding.

"Honestly, yeah." Gray said firmly, shifting into a lying position next to Claire, new beer in hand. "We had to work though a lot plans to plan tonight and he blew me off!" He groaned, looking over at empty restaurant once more.

"I feel the same way you do…" Claire said with a slight smile. She looked over at the blacksmith and met his blue eyes, just staring at them softly for a while letting her mind haze over from the wine. "We're not all that different from each other Gray. You know that?"

Gray blushed a little and reached up to fiddle with his hat again. "I guess not…" he said, bringing his beer to his mouth. Claire reached over drinking a little more wine, but stayed silent. The two continued to drink in silence like this for a while and it wasn't long till they were both laughing at nothing and enjoying the momentary lack of stress.

"Who nees Rick anywaaaay~" Claire asked, gesturing her arms a bit too extremely before looking over at Gray. She laughed a little before reaching over and poking Gray in the arm. "Hey! Hey you. Do you like any of the girls here?" Claire asked as Gray tried to bat her fingers away.

"Don't poke me." He said trying to be serious, but he wound up busting into laugher. Claire wouldn't let up, she reached up, taking his hat and placing it on her head. "Give that back now!" Gray laughed, reaching over her, trying to regain custody of his hat.

"Nuuuu! You can't have ettt untill yoooou answwer meee!" She said, dragging out her slurred words. Gray continued to play into Claire's game, fighting for his hat instead of simply saying 'No, I don't like anyone it this rat hole town.' "Yuur not gonna get it~" She chanted until Gray climbed over her, a knee by each hip and his hands planted by her shoulders.

"Wanna bet?" He asked making a swift move for his hat only to have his hands caught and held by Claire who was laughing happily, knowing she was still winning.

"Now what?" Claire asked, smugly bringing her face closer to Gray's just to rub it in. Gray couldn't place his finger on why he never noticed how beautiful Claire was before… Maybe it was because he shrugged her off as just another blonde girl who relied on her looks and only farmed because Thomas was an ass who tricked her into it and because she had no other choice. Now though, he thought, he realized that her personality was beautiful as well (but this could be thanks to the beer). "Hm? Are you giving upppp Gray? What are you gonna do?"

Gray reached down and gently kissed her soft pink lips. "This." he murmured quietly into her lips. Claire let out a little squeak of surprise but quickly returned the kiss. She finally freed Grey's hands and Gray brought them down to Claire's hips, gently cradling them.

Being alone was too lonesome and Gray was realizing this now as he held the young farmer closer to his body and kissed her a bit more. _There need to be more night's like tonight, _He thought as Claire reached for the zipper on her dress and he in turned reached for the buttons on his shirt.

_Later on that night…_

Kai rubbed his eyes as Grey finally dragged himself in his room. "Dude," Kais said survey Gray's distraught clothing. "Cliff and I were wondering what the hell happened to you…"

Gray just chuckled and flopped on his bed, not paying much mind to either of his roommates. He then turned towards Kai and pointed at him with an unsteady hand. "Yoou!" He said with a slight laugh. "Blew me off!"

Kai sighed weakly, feeling sorry. "Yeah, I was hiding from the raft of Rick and is that a hickey on your neck?" Kai asked, as he seen the rather bold mark in the moon light.

Gray didn't answer, he just crawled under his cover, mumbling. "It doesn't matter Kai… Tonight was perfect…"

"What happened?" Kai asked, an eyebrow raised, wondering just what, or who, had happened to Gray. But Gray didn't answer right away he just yawned.

"That's for me to know…" He mumbled with a smile as he closed his eyes, a clear image of Claire emerging in his subconscious. He couldn't help but wonder if once tomorrow came, if he'd regret it all...


End file.
